The Grand Finale [for now]

November 05, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Time: 70 days [10 weeks]
Miles: 14,633 ish
States: 42
Countries: 3
National Parks: 10 [+5? National Monuments]
Northern most point: Glacier National Park
Southern most point: San Antonio, TX
Highest elevation: Pikes Peak, CO [14,114 ft]
Longest driving day: New Orleans to St. Augustine [8.5 hrs]
Longest location stay: Harrisonburg, VA [4.5 days due to car trouble]
Gigs of Photos & Video: 343.7
Photos: 48,164 [including timelapses]

Nights couch-surfing: 38 [THANKS EVERYONE]
Nights camping: 10
Nights Airbnb-ing: 14
Nights Hoteling: 8

Favorite Natural Places:
Yosemite, Fern Canyon, Badland, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Glacier, Big Sur coast & lots of others

Favorite Cities:
Austin, Portland, OR, NYC, San Fransisco, San Diego, New Orleans & more [I'm bad at favorites]

Favorite Activities:
Paddleboarding, Prairie Dog feeding, Digging for Diamonds, Eating Cheese, Visiting Friends, Looking at things, Seth Myers-ing, Exploring & standing on rocks

Creepiest Place:
Northern Cali hotel orrrrr vacant campground outside of Yosemite

Best Donut:
Blue Star, Portland, OR: Lemon Poppyseed Cake
Doughnut Plant, NYC: Apple Cinnamon Cake
Gourdough's, Austin, TX: Elvis [shouldn't even be called a donut]

What's next:
I'll let you know when I figure it out. So many great places that have so many possibilities. I suppose I should find a job somewhere.

< #Typical, I probably just evoked that face...

Yayyy for roadtrip buddies and fun times and lots of adventures and many memories!

If you've got questions, I might have answers, so have at it!

Thanks for reading... keep your eyes out for a video, knowing both of us, we had to be working on something. Hopefully it turns out as cool as I envision it!

Canada

November 04, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Country #3! We headed through Canada and after quite a bit of driving made it to Toronto! We did a walking tour of downtown, explored Kensington Market, the Distillery District, Chinatown and so much more.
Recognize the vault?... It's used to be functioning but since has been used in several movies, the door alone is 40 tons!

The last donuts & coffee we tried, pretty good! ^

Canada was our last stop! After exploring the city and having some [late] Sunday brunch we headed back to Indiana to complete our loop! We drove through Michigan & Ohio bringing our state total to 42. Crazy to think it's the end :((((

Vermont

November 04, 2015 by Kelby Miller

While in Vermont we, of course, had to visit the Ben & Jerry's factory and take a tour. It pretty cool to learn about how some of these companies come to be and how they evolve over time... plus, SAMPLES.

Hmmm, wonder why they have to send some flavors to the 'Graveyard' ^

We also stopped in a couple of cute small towns on our drive through... some were cute... and some just plain old creeeeepy.

^ Legit scary.

Maine

October 30, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Chilly autumn rain in Portland made for great coffee shop sitting time, but once it cleared up we headed out to see a couple of lighthouses... that's what you're supposed to do in Maine, right? [Fact: Portland doesn't actually have any lighthouses, bur neighboring towns do]

New Hampshire

October 30, 2015 by Kelby Miller

^ Great picture, huh? We made to New Hampshire, just for a bit, but it was great! We stopped in Portsmouth per recommendation of a friend and it was great... lots of little artsy shops, galleries and of course coffee.

Specifically Turkish coffee, this time, at Cafe Kilim >

Massachusetts

October 29, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Bahhstan, so much history. We only scratched the surface... walked part of the Freedom Trail, checked out the Old North Church, ate some cannolis in the park and of course made a stop at the oldest continuously operating tavern in the US, Bell in Hand [1795].

Of course we had to stop at the original Dunkin Donuts.. since we where driving by. Who knew it was in Quincy, Ma?

Connecticut & Rhode Island

October 29, 2015 by Kelby Miller

From NYC to Boston in under 2 minutes. Don't blink, you may miss Connecticut and Rhode Island!

New York

October 28, 2015 by Kelby Miller

New York... never enough time. We spent a couple of nights in the city and made the most of it by visit friends, eating authentic street cart food, strolling through Central Park [and all interesting things that entails], went to the Today show & Late Night with Seth Myers, donuts of course, ran into a Pitbull concert, checked out the High Line and so much more! This is why I <3 NY!

Late Night with Seth Myers! Super cool. Guests were Adam Levine, Clive Owen, Rachel Dratch [Debby Downer] & Tim Gunn [Project Runway].

Apple Cinnamon, yum! [Tied for 1st place]

New Jersey

October 28, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Jerz was a short bridge walk from Pennsylvania, so we went over and visited. No Snookie sightings thankfully.

Pennsylvania

October 28, 2015 by Kelby Miller

First stop Allentown to see Weathergirllauren! ...and the Steel Stacks [industrial things, SO cool].

Then on to the Souderton area where we sat by the woodstove for a couple days and enjoyed the company of friends and explored cute little PA towns- which all seem to run together, don't they?

West Virginia

October 28, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Cruised through West Virginy for a bit, maybe John Denver was on to something.

Virginia

October 27, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Oh Virginia, so pretty in the fall! So many fall leaves, so many friends, so many good times.
First off we went to Blacksburg to visit Katie & Nolan [+3 cats +3 dogs +1 lizard]. We drank lots of coffee, played with puppies and hiked up McAfee Knob. Good times!

Snarls Barkley made trip... well, part of it.

THEN on to Harrisonburg, where we encountered a bit of car trouble, but got it fixed... more time to spend with friends! Apple picking & baking, hangin' out, ghost tours, and relaxation in general!

... and no better time of year to do it!

North Carolina

October 21, 2015 by Kelby Miller

We compared barbecue in Asheville: Memphis vs. Carolina... Memphis wins! The vinegar based sauce was good, but I definitely like some sweetness [and spicy] to the sauce! Now I can definitively tell you the differences between the 2. Knowledge is power!

We spent an afternoon in Asheville eating and checking out local galleries and shops, all in all a good time and a cool city.

South Carolina

October 21, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Didn't see much in South Carolina except the highway, but the leaves started to change [and the temp]!

Georgia

October 20, 2015 by Kelby Miller

We hit up Savanah since it's a cool city with a lot of history... and we even got to stay in a home in the middle of a marsh! So cool to be in the middle of this type of landscape... it even included baby deer, [bambies] that we could hand feed and pet!

Lots of Spanish moss and Live Oaks, looking a bit more like home, but we're headed North!
v Peach World was... scary.

Florida

October 18, 2015 by Kelby Miller

FLORIDA! Home! Kinda.

St. Augustine. The oldest city in the US, we beached, checked out Castillo de San Marcos, ate good food, met up with an old friend and toured a local distillery.

Happy birthday Laura, glad you could come join the fun!

Louisiana

October 18, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Life is easy in the Big Easy! We got to experience quite a few cool things and got a pretty good sampling of the city... and heard SO MANY great street musicians.

eignets. That's all I need to say. If you'd like to see me attempt to eat one, check out Kayci's blog.

Mississippi & Alabama

October 15, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Sorry Mississippi & Alabama, we only used you to get from place to place. But we did make time to see the world's largest rocking chair... but, we couldn't even sit in it. Disappointing.

Gulfport, MS

Tennessee

October 11, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Memphis, TN.
Sun Studios, the start for so many great musicians... Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins [and LOTS more] were discovered and recorded their first albums here!

Super cool to walk around where these guys hung out.

^ Beale Street, quiet on a Sunday morning.
v Memphis Barbecue, of course.

Arkansas

October 11, 2015 by Kelby Miller

Crater of Diamonds State Park- did not expect anyone to be there, but it was PACKED. So many people there... Hoping to strike it rich by finding diamonds in a field of dirt, I guess. Not really sure.
Anyway, it was an experience.

... Not a diamond.

^ Textures & patterns of camping.

The dog that was cute until it peed on our tent >